Look ma, no popins!

An interesting thing happens when reviewing a two and a half-year old game. The first thing you realize is two and a half years isn’t quite long enough for that game to fall into the retro category. The second thing you realize is that two and a half years is a long time in terms of gaming and graphics.

Halo 2 for Windows Vista is such a game. Microsoft’s 10 million copy seller makes it’s way to the PC, or more specifically makes it’s way to Windows Vista almost 30 months after the XBox release.

The first question PC gamers ask themselves is “Why is this game Vista only?” The first answer you’ll most likely read is its to sell copies of Vista. That’s just plain silly though, and that’s definitely not the reason Microsoft intended, though I’m sure if it DOES sell a few copies of Vista you won’t hear any complaining from Redmond. The reason this is on Vista is because it requires DX10, even though it doesn’t take full advantage of it. The game also utilizes Games for Windows Live, which will require Vista.

Enough with the politics. Lets get down to the goodies. In the box you’ll get the same Halo 2 game found on the XBox (with the same disappointing ending), as well as 2 new multiplayer maps and a map editor. You also have the ability to host your own dedicated servers for multiplayer.

Something new to Windows Vista, and something that I hope becomes standard, is called [i]Tray and Play[/i]. What Microsoft heralded as Auto Play back with Windows 95 makes its return in Windows Vista 13 years later. Pop in the game disc, hit play and within minutes you’ll be taking down Covenant baddies. But does it work? From the time I put the disc in, to the time I was actually controlling the Master Chief took 1 minute and 35 seconds. Color me impressed. As you continue to play, the game will be installed in the background to further help loading times.

Graphics have come a long way since November 2004, and it shows with Halo 2 for Windows Vista. While Hired Gun Studios did an excellent job of upping the texture resolution; the player models, especially human ones, look low resolution and lack significant detail. This is extremely prevalent in the cut scenes when there are close ups on the faces. Speaking of cut-scenes the infamous detail popping issue is no longer prevalent. Perhaps I’m just spoiled by [i]next-gen[/i] graphics.

The Arbiter is still here.

The story and presentation of Halo 2 still holds up very well. The pacing is excellent, and the worlds have lots of personality. The AI is solid, and the enemies remain interesting throughout. In fact, I think I’ve heard quite a few more lines of dialog from enemies than I previously remember. It was refreshing to have baddies have such personality, rather than just the cannon fodder like most FPS now-adays.

The game controls are excellent, with the mouse and keyboard controls feeling very natural. The original Halo on PC never quite felt right with the controls, but Halo 2 seems to have nailed it. You are free to play the game with your XBox 360 controller as well, and you can seamlessly play with BOTH at the same time if you so wish. I found myself wanting to drive the Warthog with the gamepad rather than the mouse and keyboard, even though the mouse and keyboard worked very well for this.

Achievements. Achievements. Did you just perk up a little bit? If you did, lean closer…closer. I want to tell you something. This game has achievements. Yes, a PC game with achievements for your Gamercard. The SAME Gamercard that your XBox 360 games are on. While I don’t doubt some hackers will figure a way to cheat the achievement system, I hit a few snags with it. I had the game lock up once or twice on me. And when I went back into the game I was warned that I would no longer get any achievements unless I restarted the level since my gamestate on Live didn’t match the one on my PC. A minor annoyance, but a comfortable annoyance for those people concerned about achievements andGamerscore.

One of the new maps: Uplift

I wasn’t able to test multiplayer, as there hasn’t been anyone playing. What I can tell you is the game retains the still awesome party system. Halo 2 for Vista all features dedicated servers, as of the time of writing Bungie/Microsoft has around 30 dedicated servers running for the game. Individual users are also able to run their own dedicated servers using the software included on the DVD. The game ships with all the maps available for Halo 2 on XBox (not the recently released map pack) as well as two new bonus maps.

Overall Halo 2 is still a solid title. While the graphics don’t necessarily hold up well, the gameplay is fun and the story is engaging. If you’ve never played Halo 2, I recommend you try it sometime, I just don’t recommend you pick up Windows Vista for it.

The Good:
+ It’s Halo
+ Tray and Play works well
+ Map Editor Included
+ The Music rocks
+ Solid Controls

The Bad:
- Models are lacking detail
- Some quirky Live things

The Ugly:
- Vista only